Way back in 2012, I created the teak house-covering boards with an overhang around the port holes. (You can review some of that work HERE.) The idea was that I could press transparent windows into the overhang, bedding them with sealant. Several years ago, I purchased four opening ports from Newfound Metals. The idea was that I would have four opening ports and nine fixed ports. A few weeks ago I finally unpacked the opening ports and found unacceptable misalignment between the ports and the trim rings, and I’m currently communicating with the company about getting them back to the company (Washington state) and processing a refund. At this time I’m simply going with 13 fixed ports. From the hatch project, there was enough scrap 1/2-inch plexiglass to cut out the 13 windows. The plexiglass has protective paper adhered to both sides, and the next two photos show a few braced into place temporarily.

I traced the shape of the port with a sharpie, from the outside, then cut away that part that will be bedded, which was scuffed up with 150-grit paper.

I used Sikaflex 295 as the sealant, and the bedding process involves a special cleaning solvent, then a special primer before finally applying the sealant. Here is the sealant applied to one of the ports.

After pressing the window into the port we can see the desired squeeze out, which is cleaned up immediately.

The windows were braced in pairs with bent sticks pushing them outward. The bedding/installation process took two days, and after 24-48 hours I removed the bracing sticks.

The tinted glass will afford some privacy at a dock in the daytime. (At night, the curtains will be drawn.)

I expect to get a number of years of service from this window solution.

Next up is the problem of attaching dorade boxes to the roof. Here the dorade boxes are temporarily in place and the vents are sitting on top as a means to confirm that box tops are horizontal, so the vents sit vertically. Everything seemed good enough, so the my next post should detail the dorade-box installation.